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Brief Review of Kathryn Olmsted, Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and...
Kathryn Olmsted’s Real Enemies is an excellent survey of conspiracy theories in the 20th-century United States. A history professor at UC-Davis, Olmsted makes three arguments. First, the U.S....
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How Useful Is a Course on Conspiracy Theories?
The conspiracy theories course wrapped up yesterday with a discussion about the differences between actual conspiracies and conspiracy theories and the students’ evaluation of the most influential...
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Mitt Romney and the White Horse Prophecy
Recently, I invited three LDS missionaries to speak to my American Presidency students. Considering the possible “Mormon moment” that might arise from a Romney campaign win, I thought it made sense to...
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The 40th Anniversary of Jesus’ Rapture
This year marks the anniversary of the Christian cult film A Thief in the Night. In the 1980s, I watched this film and at its sequels during a string of Saturday night showings at Highland Park Baptist...
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Americans’ Belief in Conspiracy Theories
Researchers at Fairleigh Dickinson University recently demonstrated what my regular readers already know: Americans believe in conspiracy theories. According to their telephone poll of registered...
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Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and the Illuminati
Readers may remember that last year, someone uncovered the link between the Mayans, Madonna, and the Antichrist. Madonna had better look out, because someone else is moving into her territory. And...
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Essential Readings on Conspiracy Thinking
I’ve written previously about the usefulness and necessity of examining conspiracy theories, and I also provided an outline of my conspiracy theories course. Several weeks ago, a student approached me...
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The Freemasonic Conspiracy and the U.S. Government Shutdown
During last night’s vote to reopen the U.S. government, one of the House of Representatives’ stenographers took control of the …Continue reading »
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Debunking the Lincoln-Kennedy Federal Reserve Meme
There is a meme circulating on Facebook that seems to be based on the conspiracy theory that Abraham Lincoln and …Continue reading »
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Are Conspiracy Theories Central to U.S. Political Debate?
Anne Applebaum’s piece in Slate argues that we have been blessed in recent history by a political system that has, …Continue reading →
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